ok hi all I am a senior in high school from the Dallas area and wanting to pursue pre-med. The three colleges I am considering are SMU, UTD and UofH, which all have their pros and cons. I got into SMU as a presidents scholar so money is not an issue because they cover everything, but I am concerned that the premed program at SMU is not that great. UTD is giving me, as a national merit finalist a full ride and $4000 stipend per semester, but is really close to home and may not give me the full college experience. But has a more established premed program. I got into UofH into the 7 year medical program. But the program seems very intense and I don’t have a full ride. It is tied in with 2 med schools McGovern and UTMB and you don’t know which one you will go to. Also you still have to take the MCAT and score well and maintain a high GPA. They have a really high dropout rate.
Any advice?? Much appreciated.
Follow this year’s BS/MD thread since many posts related to UH program lately.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1879830-official-thread-for-2017-bsmd-applicants-p232.html
For 2016-17 cycle UH mentioned MCAT 32, GPA 3.8, sGPA 3.7. This year still not provided and new PD came on board. So find out what is the final requirement. UH is a guaranteed (conditionally) BS/MD program and your other 2 options you need to go thru regular MD process in 3 years time.
Irrespective of any option, prepare to study well since GPA and MCAT scores need to be competitive.
Assume you meant full tuition and $4k in UTD (full ride normally includes tuition and R&B). Also as a NMF, you are getting free tuition there also. Only additional R&B will cost you which any how you want to be away from home to get a college experience.
UH looks a better choice if you are certain about medicine as a profession, though I have no knowledge about SMU and UTD pre-med advising and their strength. Yes, you have to work hard in UH. Both UTH and UTMB are good choices for MD. For different reasons, UTMB may not be listed in US news ranking.
Thank you for ur insight.